Cut the Rope updated with 25 new levels, Om Nom hungrier than ever

Cut the Rope, the popular and highly addictive game that introduced Android to Om Nom and his sweet tooth, has been updated with 25 new levels. Toy Box 1.1, available now, ups the ante to 200 levels total, and also adds new game mechanics in which you can use a trampoline to bounce candy into Om Nom's mouth. Cut the Rope costs 99 cents and the latest update is available now in the Android Market, with availablily in the Amazon App Store coming "soon." Hit the break to grab it now.

Motorola Xoom Wifi gets another update to build HTK75D

Word on the street, in our inbox and on our Motorola Xoom Wifi edition is that an update to Android 3.2.1 is rolling in. The "new" Android Market's also along for the ride in build HTK75D, which would be a bigger deal if it wouldn't have updated itself later anyway. But might as well have it tucked into a nice update.

Android kids app: The Ogglies - A Dragon Party

Chances are your kid likes dragons and will also jump at the chance to say "firebottom." Why not combine the two with the children's book "The Ogglies - A Dragon Party for Firebottom." It's the latest in a nice little run of interactive children's books now available on Android. "Firebottom" also has puzzles and music thrown in, so you're not just reading the book.

It's on sale through Oct. 6 for around $2. We've got links and video after the break.

HTC Holiday checks in at the FCC

If the HTC Holiday is high up there on your LTE capable device want list, you shouldn't have that much longer to wait. The FCC has done their due dilligence and gave the device blessing to proceed with 1700/2100/700 LTE bands intact. If you're looking for any carrier details in the FCC filing, you won't find them but this one has been pegged for AT&T since it started popping up.

Hipmunk flight search app now available for Android

Searching for flights is a pain. Searching for flights with a chipmunk -- excuse us, Hipmunk -- is far less a pain. Yep, Hipmunk is now available for Android. With just a few taps, you can search and select flights, purchase on your phone's browser or (and this is our favorite part) start on the phone and finish on the computer.

Scheduling travel just got a lot easier on Android. Hipmunk's free, and we've got Market links after the break.

AC's 500,000-member giveaway - Day 4!

We're not done yet, folks! Today, to celebrate reaching 500,000 members in the Greatest Android Community in the Universe, we're giving away not one, not two, not three -- let's do five Android Central T-shirts (which we can ship internationally, by the way).

Xperia Pro showing up Oct. 6?

British online retailer Clove has put the forthcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro up for pre-order, claiming an October 6th release date for the device.

If this is the phone for you, then in the UK at least it'll set you back £322 ($524) off contract. Bearing passing resemblance to the Xperia Play, the Pro has a full slide out QWERTY keyboard in place of the game controls, and we know how much some of you love your QWERTY's.

As with all recent devices out of the Xperia stable, the Pro is packing similar specs to its siblings. It comes with Gingerbread on board, a 3.7" display complete with the mobile Bravia technology, the 8.1 megapixel Exmor R camera from the Arc S, HD video recording and HDMI out.

Sony Ericsson committed to supporting independent Android developers

Yesterday we saw the confirmation that, thanks to assistance from Sony Ericsson, almost all of its Xperia range will be receiving full support from custom ROM CyangenMod in the future. Now SE itself has publicly come out in support of independent developers in a post on its Developer World blog.

The post by Karl-Johan Dahlström (he's the guy holding the CM7'd Xperia Arc in the image above) acknowledges that custom ROMs are "a part of the Android ecosystem", and says SE "fully believes in the openness of Android". It also confirms that SE provided "around 20" devices to FreeXperia team members, along with technical assistance, in order to help bring custom ROMs to the Xperia line.

It wasn't long ago that manufacturers seemed to be irreversibly marching towards locked bootloaders and further restrictions on the way customers use their devices, so it's great to see this kind of support for ROM-makers. And although other manufacturers provide similar assistance to devs behind the scenes, it's fantastic that Sony Ericsson's publicly stating its support for some of the brightest and most dedicated people in the Android community.

HTC announces the cost-effective Explorer for India and Europe, coming in Q4

HTC announced their newest smartphone this morning called the Explorer, which represents an affordable device headed to India and Europe. We tend to get excited about the top tier phones but the lower-cost devices such as the HTC Explorer are equally just as game changing as they will allow more people with varying incomes to buy a smartphone.

Here are the specs for the HTC Explorer:

3.2-inch touchscreen with 320 x 480 resolution

600 MHz processor

512 MB internal storage

512 MB RAM

3 MP camera

WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)

Bluetooth 3.0

1230 mAh battery

The phone will be coming to the India and EMEA markets in Q4 and will be available in three colors: Metallic Black, Active Black and Metallic Navy. No word yet on how much it will cost, but given how HTC is marketing it, the price will be very low relative to other smartphones. In the UK, Vodafone has already announced that it'll be carrying the device.

AppBrain re-invents social app discovery with the AppBrain Stream

The folks at AppBrain (remember them?), those same fellows who brought the original web installer for Android to the masses, today unveiled the AppBrain Stream. It's a lot like Facebook style social networking, but geared towards, and all about, your Android apps. AppBrain has always been a great way to discover and share Android applications, but the new user streams and feeds really take it all to the next level. If you feel a bit overwhelmed by all the other great tools AppBrain gives us, like daily "hot" apps, personalized recommendations, app demographics, and shared user app lists, you're going to love this.

It's genuinely simple -- you now have a couple new entries on your AppBrain page that show your personalized stream of app-related news and events. You'll see things like messages from your friends when they install a new app (or uninstall an app), personalized recommendations for new apps based on what you're currently using, updates to apps you're running, even app reviews from your friends and discussion about them. You can "like", share or add commentary to each of these entries, just like you would at your favorite social networking site. You can also see just your activity in a dedicated list, to keep track of apps you're talking about.

There's no setup involved -- if you follow someone on AppBrain, you'll see their activity in your stream. The guys at AppBrain let us in a bit early to check it out, and I'll have to say -- this has real potential. No more relying on cryptic or less-than-helpful comments in the Market, or using a random Google search to try and find what your looking for. Like the staff picks on the official Android Market, it will be a great way to find new apps that fit you, with the added bonus of goofing off a bit with your friends. We've got a couple screenshots after the break, as well as a link to download AppBrain to your phone so you can join in. And as we've said before -- Google, just buy these guys already.

9MM from Gameloft enters the Android Market

I've always enjoyed third-person shooter games and Gameloft has now made available 9MM in the Android Market. If you're into some pretend gang violence with a Scarface like tone to it then you'll likely dig 9MM -- as the story line goes:

You become John "Loose" Kannon, the leader of a special team of hardened cops that aren't afraid to bend the law to clean up the streets. But when they kill a local drug lord's brother and steal millions in cash, the theft makes Kannon's whole team the target of every gangster in the city. Now Kannon has only one option: Take down the gang leader that's hunting them, legally or not, before his team gets taken out first.

Original story? Not exactly. But the game looks to have some pretty awesome graphics and the soundtrack is pretty slick as well. You'll want to make sure you play this one with some headphones on though, or at least out of earshot of those who may find some of the NSFW language found within offensive. You'll find the NSFW video trailer, press release and download link past the break. Before you download though, check out the review left on the Android Market -- many are saying it is a fairly large download so keep that in mind.

Skype adds video calling -- and ads - to another round of phones

You don't usually get sumpthin' for nothin', and the adage rings true with the latest update to Skype for Android. The good news: A baker's dozen devices have had video calling turned on, but at the price of having to put up with advertising. You can get around the ads (which show up for everyone, not just the new crop) if you've got Skype credits laying around, which we're betting most of you don't.

HTC Rhyme now available from Verizon

Seems not all that long ago the HTC Rhyme was nothng more then a rumor and now Verizon will gladly sell you one for $199 on a new 2-year contract. You get that fancy interactive charm to go along with it so it's not all that bad of a deal, especially considering the package as a whole.